Elections 2020: Meet Georgia's U.S. Senate Candidates

GEORGIA — In addition to voting for president and vice president of the United States in the Nov. 3 general election, voters in Georgia will choose other candidates to represent them, including who will represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.

Incumbent David Perdue will be running against Jon Ossoff to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.

As part of its coverage of the 2020 election, Patch has invited the candidates in contested races to participate in our election profile series. We will continue to update the profiles with links to responses to our questionnaire.

Candidate

Jon Ossoff

Age (as of Election Day)

33

Town/City of Residence

Atlanta

Office Sought

U.S. Congress

Party Affiliation

Democratic Party

Family

My wife Dr. Alisha Kramer is an OBGYN in Atlanta.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

N/A

Education

I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. I earned a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics.

Occupation

Since 2013, I have been the CEO of Insight TWI, a 30-year old small business and media production company that produces investigations of corruption, organized crime, and war crimes broadcast by television channels worldwide to a global television audience of hundreds of millions.
In recent years, we have investigated and exposed sexual slavery of women and girls by ISIS, crooked judges, foreign officials who steal U.S-funded food and medical aid, contract killers, human traffickers, war crimes, and bribery.
Before embarking upon my career in journalism and media production, I worked as a national security aide for Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, handling defense and economic policy.

Campaign website

www.ElectJon.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

N/A

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

We’re in the midst of a public health emergency and an economic crisis. We need to empower doctors and scientists to fight this virus instead of continuing to politicize the response and downplay the pandemic. And this pandemic should be a wake up call that we urgently need to expand health care access and lower health care costs.
The outrageous cost of health insurance and medicine is a scandal. Few insurance plans are available. Premiums are extremely expensive. And dealing with insurance companies is a nightmare. I’ll work to make quality health care a simple, affordable, and reassuring reality for all of us by cracking down on price gouging by drug and insurance companies, supporting Medicaid expansion, expanding the U.S. Public Health Service to hire more nurses and doctors, and investing in new health clinics.

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

I absolutely believe and affirm that Black Lives Matter. Brutality and racial profiling targeting Black Americans are not “isolated incidents,” like my opponent has said.
In the United States today, the fact is deep race and class disparities persist in policing, prosecution, and sentencing. Racial profiling, arbitrary detention, brutality, and abuse in detention and incarceration are widespread.
We need leaders willing to acknowledge and address that head-on. We must strengthen due process, civil rights and civil liberties, and enforce the U.S. Constitution’s 14th amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law for all — regardless of race or class. That’s why I will champion a new Civil Rights Act in the United States Senate. The answer is reform, not defunding the police. There must be accountability for brutality, racial profiling, race or class bias. That’s how we will rebuild trust between communities and law enforcement.

What are your thoughts on the campaign to "defund" the police?

I do not support “defunding the police.” I will champion reforms to strengthen due process, civil rights and civil liberties, and enforce the U.S. Constitution’s 14th amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law for all — regardless of race or class. — and to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

What are your thoughts on the state and national response to the coronavirus pandemic? Do you favor such measures as limiting operation of non-essential businesses or restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a nationwide mask mandate?

Plain and simple: we should follow the advice of nonpartisan public health experts at the CDC and NIH. The federal government’s response to this pandemic has been a total failure.
While they received private briefings in Washington, President Trump and Senator Perdue lied to the public about the real threat posed by COVID-19, downplaying the risk and undermining doctors and scientists. Senator Perdue said the health risk was low and the impact on economic growth would be little. They politicized the response and undermined health experts. Now over 200,000 Americans have died and millions have lost their jobs.
We need leaders who empower public health experts in a public health emergency and are honest about threats to our health and our prosperity. We need and deserve competence and integrity.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Sen. Perdue puts his donors’ interests ahead of ours. He sells meetings for corporate PAC checks. He has enriched himself while in office. He votes with the insurance companies and big polluters.
I run a business that exposes corruption, war crimes, and organized crime around the world, and I’ll crack down on price gouging by insurance and drug companies, invest in infrastructure and clean energy, and pass anti-corruption reforms to get corporate and secret money out of politics.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

While he received private briefings in Washington on the true nature of this virus, Sen. Perdue lied to us about the real threat posed by COVID-19, downplayed the risks to ourselves and our families, and undermined doctors and scientists.
Perdue compared COVID-19 to the common flu. He said the health risk was “low” and the impact on economic growth would be “little.” Those are his own words.
Now over 200,000 Americans have died and millions have lost their jobs. Our federal government’s failed response to COVID-19 is one of the most disgraceful failures of government in American history.
To make matters worse, Sen. Perdue is actively working to gut protections for 1.8 million Georgians with pre-existing conditions — even in the midst of this pandemic.
Why? He is heavily funded by the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, and that’s why he puts their interests over ours. I will work to make health care and health insurance an affordable, accessible reality for every Georgian.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

In the Senate, I will fight for affordable health care for every Georgian and for economic policies that put small businesses and working families ahead of powerful trade groups and political donors. I’ll crack down on price gouging by insurance and drug companies and work to lower taxes for small businesses and working families.
I’ll work to ensure Georgia’s young people can access higher education without debt, for historic investment in clean energy and infrastructure, to reform our criminal justice system and ensure equal protection under the law, to protect every American’s right to vote, and to get secret money and corporate money out of politics.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

In recent years, my company has successfully investigated and exposed sexual slavery of women and girls by ISIS, crooked judges, foreign officials who steal U.S-funded food and medical aid, contract killers, human traffickers, war crimes, and bribery.
Under my leadership, our investigations of corruption, organized crime, and war crimes have won major awards and have been broadcast to hundreds of millions of people on dozens of television channels and on every continent.
Our work exposing ISIS war crimes has won particular acclaim. Our 2016 production for the BBC “Girls, Guns and ISIS,” was described by The Sun as “hard hitting and unflinching,” and our 2018 followup, “Face to Face with ISIS,” won the One World Media Award. The award jury called the production “exemplary of popular journalism at its bravest, most insightful and empathetic.”
I’ve spent my career investigating corruption, and my opponent is the poster boy for Washington Corruption. Sen. Perdue puts his donors’ interests ahead of ours. He sells meetings for campaign cash. He has enriched himself while in office. He votes with the insurance companies and big polluters.
I’ll crack down on price gouging by insurance and drug companies, invest in infrastructure and clean energy, and pass anti-corruption reforms to get corporate and secret money out of politics.

Why should voters trust you?

I will be the most transparent Senator in Georgia’s history. I will come out into public, explain my votes and my positions, answer questions, accept criticism and scrutiny, and be willing to listen and change my mind.
Senator David Perdue on the other hand, hasn’t held a public town hall meeting in six years while he sells meetings to lobbyists for corporate PAC checks. That’s everything that’s wrong with Washington in a nutshell.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

Our national resources are not unlimited, and we have to set priorities and budget responsibly.
I’ll support policies to grow our economy and create jobs by expanding opportunities for working families and small businesses. Rather than relying on limitless subsidies for investment banks as economic stimulus and hoping benefits trickle down, I’ll support policies that help Georgia’s families make and save more money: lower taxes for all but the wealthiest Americans, debt-free public college, free vocational training, and health care guaranteed at an affordable price.
And to create millions of jobs and jumpstart our economy, I’ll support a historic infrastructure program to lay the foundation for decades of prosperity, sustainability, and health.

*David Perdue did not return Patch's email with the questionnaire.